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Flash! I love you, but you've only got twenty four hours to save the world! That famous call rings out once more as Flash prepares for an intergalactic three part adventure. Once more that evil despot, Ming of Mongo, has targetted Earth with his deadly planet killer missiles. To stop him destroying life as we know it Flash must foil his dastardly plan, by finding and killing the baldy emperor.

From his headquarters on Earth, Flash flies a shaky course - finally crash-landing on Mongo. He winds up in a dense jungle populated by hideous creatures with only one thought on their minds - doom and despair for our hero. The forest is based on unstable ground, and in certain places the earth has broken away, causing crevasses to open up their gaping jaws. Luckily, Flash is an agile sort of bloke and possesses a powerful spring in his legs allowing him to clear these gaps without too much trouble.

During his travels Flash encounters apes that leap down from the trees, snakes which hang in wait, and skeletons of people previously killed in the forest that are now seeking their revenge. Most of them can be killed by Flash's amazingly trusty laser gun which never leaves his side.

Flash has three positions from which he can aim and shoot - high, medium and (you guessed it) low. He has twelve shots to start off with, but more may be collected from the abandoned ammo trunks that litter the forest floor. Further on in this flick screen arcade adventure part of the game, Flash encounters the more vicious elements of the forest such as fire-breathing dragons that shuffle along the floor (for real!), and the treacherous tiger who guards the exit.

Throughout the adventure, Flash's life depends on the time remaining. The more attacks he succumbs to, the quicker the time passes - the time is recorded by a small clock at the bottom of the screen.

Once Flash has deciphered the maze of the jungle, and defeated the tiger, he can leave. The exit leads to a large plain where he stumbles upon one of Ming's minions who he recognises as Prince Barin. Flash realises that this man would be a useful ally; however, the only way that he can win his respect is by beating him senseless at hand-to-hand combat. The state of play in this epic struggle is depicted as a tug of war below the two fighting figures. This indicates how close either the Prince of Flash is to victory - Flash must pull the centre bar all the way to the left to defeat Barin and gain the help he needs. Many moves are at Flash's disposal, but no matter how he chooses to fight it's advisable for him to do it in sudden bursts, as this soon tires Barin, and thus speeds Flash's victory.

The third and final section of this adventure sees Flash on his jetbike hurtling across a gridded landscape. In order to build up his speed in this section, a number of flying guards need to be eliminated, and each one that he lets slip by just makes life harder for him. Once travelling at speed, passing through the Gates of Power builds up the bike's energy. Having survived the onslaught of the guards, Flash now finds himself flying through a minefield. All he needs to do here is to steer a clear path through without touching anything, as each contact with a mine depletes his energy - very quickly.

Once Flash has successfully negotiated the minefield, he catches sight of the dreaded Ming as he flashes past on his Jet-bike. Flash must eliminate him quickly as his retaliation can be fatal. Once the swaggering dictator is destroyed, then our hero is done it! Done what? Saved the Earth of course, remember...?

This is a really neat budget title which comprises an arcade adventure, a mini beat-'em-up and a shoot-'em-up section! All the different parts of the program are very good, and even though they're all loaded in separately it doesn't detract from the game at all.

The graphics are pretty good on the whole and the sound is really great with brilliant Rob Hubbard title screen music and in-game soundtrack. If you want to spend three quid on something worthwhile then take a look at this.

This has got to be the bargain of the year. It makes a lot of full-priced products seem very silly indeed. The three different sections are all very good and stand up quite easily on their own as top budget releases.

With them all together for £2.99, you just can't go wrong. I'd say the weakest of the three is the first game since it can get a bit boring, but the other two more than make up for this. The multi-load system works brilliantly and very speedily as well.

All in all, an excellent package worth three quid of anyone's money.

Flash Gordon - certainly a name to be reckoned with. To be honest I had my doubts whether Mastertronic could do it justice. But they have, and the final product is superb. Three games of quality, with a superb soundtrack which makes one excellent buy.

Whereas some games try to include multiple sections in one package and don't succeed, Flash has been so well thought out that none of it becomes tiresome. The three segments have something for everyone: exploration set in a forest, a bash 'em up and finally a fast action game. There's no harm in splashing out a measly three quid for this, as you're bound to find some of it appealing - even if it is only the music!

Presentation 90%
Good title screen and superb speedy multi-load system.

Graphics 84%
Colourful, varied and well drawn.

Sound 97%
Great title screen tune and 'interactive' soundtrack.

Hookability 92%
Immediately playable.

Lastability 83%
Though the first two stages are relatively simple to complete, the third stage offers a significant challenge.

Value For Money 97%
Outstanding.

Overall 89%
An excellent budget release from Mastertronic.